Maharashtra doctors aborting girl child in other states

Mumbai: After the crackdown by the Maharashtra government on the doctors allegedly indulging in aborting female fetus in the state, the racket has now shifted to the neighbouring states. The racket of aborting female fetus is now operating in the states bordering Maharashtra as the doctors have set up their shops there. An NGO has exposed the alleged racket in a sting operations.

The doctors take a huge fee and then send those wanting to abort their female fetus to their counterparts in the neighbouring states. The alleged racket was exposed when as NGO Lek Laadki Abhiyaan, which has been fighting against sex determination tests. The NGO sent some of its workers and a pregnant woman to the doctors and their brokers indulging in sex determination tests to expose the racket.

The doctors take a huge fee and then send those wanting to abort their female fetus to their counterparts in the neighbouring states.

A broker in Namburdar agreed to get the sex determination test done and then took Rs 14,000 for the same. The broker then took the NGO workers to Surat in Gujarat for sonography.

After the sonography the doctor told the pregnant woman that the baby in the womb was almost 6 months old and was a female. When the doctor was asked if another sonography was needed to confirm the sex of the baby, the woman was told that there is no need.

The sting revealed that despite the crackdown by the Maharashtra Medical Council on the erring doctors, the practice of sex determination and aborting female fetus was going on.

According to Lek Laadki Abhiyaan the sex determination racket was running in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Daman-Diu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Lek Laadki Abhiyaan activist and lawyer Varsha gaikwad said that the pregnant women are referred top other states by the doctors in Maharashtra and take huge sums from the people.

Even Maharashtra government is aware of the racket but has expressed its helplessness in curbing it as the doctors are sitting in other states.